entitlements and the big issues contributing to the debt and deficit. >> we'll see what they can come up with between now and then. that's it for me. i'm be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "the situation room." "newsroom" continues right now with brooke baldwin. hi, there. i'm brooke baldwin live in new york today. we begin with a story that absolutely broke the nation's heart. i'll never forget it. i was there in newtown. i saw first hand the utter devastation, the anguish upon the faces of those in the community, the first responders, the children because of the shooting at sandy hook elementary school. i talk eed to a first responder trembling with grief. i saw the funeral processions with the tiny white caskets for young first grade victims, and moments ago, we got the 911 calls, these tapes, from that mass shooting in this quaint connecticut town. the 911 calls from inside the school where a gunman murdered

20 children and 6 adults. this is an extraordinarily difficult story to cover today. the release of the tapes, obviously, extremely sensitive. we are fully aware of that here at cnn. so i can tell you that behind closed doors right now, our editorial teams are evaluating whether these calls are news worthy for airing on television, which portions we will choose to hair for you today. we're all mindful, of course, of the victims' families who may be forced to cope with a painful reminder today of this tragedy they endured just about one years go. let me first begin with national correspondent deborah feyerick, who is covering the story for us today as we're awaiting these tapes. let's begin with, and i know this is a question on so many f viewers' minds. why are the tapes being released at all? >> the tapes are being released because a number of media outlets files freedom of information requests to get the information and find out exactly was on the tapes, to find out

how police responded on that day, whether the response was quick enough, whether in fact things were done as they should have been done. there was a news value in terms of the tapes being released. you talk about the poor families. nobody wanted to retraumatize these families. this is something they have been living with for the last year. it's not just a reminder. it is simply a recognition that they are still healing and that this tragedy has simply changed their entire life. what we can tell you, brooke, is wo we've got the tapes now, 25 minutes worth of discussions with 911 operators. these 911 operators were handling cars that were being made from inside the school. we know there were at least nine phones in the school. one of them in the main office that adam lanza actually looked into as he went about his rampage, and that's when one of the administrators there actually placed a call alerting police as to what was going on, as the school went into a massive lockdown and teachers

there simply worked to try to defend their children. so we have the audiotapes. they're now being vetted by an editorial team here at cnn. and a decision will be made as to what portions to release and what -- which tapes say something that will help all of us here in this country and around the world understand the tragedy and the horror, if you can understand what happened in the school that day, brooke. >> so as the vetting process continues, as these decisions are being made with this news value, deb feyerick, we'll continue the conversation. we'll talk once again once we play the tapes, if we decide to do so. with the one-year anniversary ten days away and the release of the calls, i sat and read the newtown bee today, just to get a sense of how the community is feeling because of this. they write about this perfect trifecta of emotional baggage that is difficult for the community to bear. that's in reference to the reports, the 911 tapes, and this upcoming anniversary.

let me read this for you. this is from the town -- basically, the city council person, they call this personal the first electman in newtown. she says this, once we have that behind us, i think we can take a collectible breath and confront our next step on that journey to rebuild our sandy hook school and develop our sense of confidence, to regain our feet, and to say we are ready to continue on. joining me, clinical psychologist jeff gardere, and steve kardian, none of us can pretend to understand what it's like, even the people in the communities, because everyone felt this about one year ago. jeff, what is the process of, i don't know, coping with this, these 911 tapes released today. >> 911 starts to give answers as to what it is that actually happened, giving us an analysis where we can be more prophylactic and more proactive in the future. all of this goes into the dapta

base as to looking at the profiles as to how to avoid these situations. for the people who are involved in this tragedy, this, as you just read, and i think it's very accurate, may be that last piece they need to confront, to no longer deny that it's out there, to process, talk about, and begin to live in a way that is different, that is healthier. they'll never be the same again, but it is part of that healing process, putting everything out on the table. and the way that cnn is handling it, the way we will handle it is not to exploit it but to analyze it and to help in that healing. >> there is some news value, and steve, this is my question. as far as obviously police, this has long since been listened to by investigators in this particular school shooting, but is there a nationwide take away for law enforcement to listen to these tapes as they're released today to try to figure out, how

do we, heaven forbid, better handle a school shooting situation? >> we look back to columbine and things started to change back then. we had a procedure where we would therefore wait for s.w.a.t. to arrive. now, we do the after shooter, we're going in. we're going to step over bodies and go towards the shooter and try to neutralize him. we're going to learn from it, come up with new tactics and techniques because i don't think this is going away anytime soon. >> what about the nation? i said at the top of the show, i feel like it broke the nationheart, a lot of our hearts, to do this to first graders of all things. ptsd is a real thing nationwide. >> listening to the tapes, of course, will open up -- >> old wounds. >> some of the old wounds, but sometimes you have to open them in order to clean them out. >> why? >> because you can't repress this stuff any longer. you have to be able to deal with what the reality was at the time and how it affects us now and in

the future. so if nothing else, i think this is the way that we need to frame it. it has to be part of the healing process. it has to give us information so that we can spare people in the future from being part of these horrific sorts of scenes. >> i'm also wondering, i'm wondering, steve, if not just the 911 tapes that are coming out, but in two saturdays it will be the one-year anniversary. people in newtown have said, please don't come. let us cope, and we want to move not on, but forward. for other law enforcement agencies, are they at all bracing for these idiots, forgive me, who might try to do something on the one year? >> we have to be individual lvi. we look at the targets in the past. they're all soft targets. institutions or establishments that are soft targets, that are readily accessible and easy to attack if you will. so law enforcement is on alert, and we will learn, god forbid,

with each passing incident, a tremendous amount. in newtown, newtown police officers are lecturing on the law enforcement circuit, educating police officers on what not only they say but what they think could be a better process. >> wow. >> that's right, brooke. if you go back to the psychological autopsy we just did on adam lanza, that gave us a plethora of information as to what may be in the minds of these young people, of these mass shooters, so that we can try to avoid this, identify, and work with it to prevent this sort of tragedy, if we can, in the future. >> dr. jeff gardere, steve kardian, thank you both very much. i want to read this from the newtown bee. they said the best way to honor the loves ones and youngsters who lost live s is to take care of someone in the community. in 30 minutes, we'll see how the nation's thinking on gun control has changed since the mass shooting. we'll go in depth about national

polls, how everyone is feeling after this? that's at the bottom of the hour. stay with me for that. >> i want to move along and talk about the new details on how actor paul walker and his friend roger rodas died in that car crash saturday. rodas, as you know, driving in that limited edition porsche carrera gt, walker a star of the movie series "the fast & furious kwaelts was a passenger in the car, and that slammed into a light pole in valencia, california, before bursting into flames. now the autopsy report is in. casey wian has those details for us. he joins us now. casey, what have you learned? >> reporter: well, brooke, the limited information that the l.a. county coroner's office is provided us is very, very revealing and very, very chilling. it concludes that paul walker died of the combined effects of traumatic and thermal injuries. thermal injuries, of course, related to the explosion that happened after that crash. and as you may remember from the

video that cnn obtained of the crash site, it showed that there was about a minute that elapsed between the time the car actually crashed into a tree and pole and the actual big explosion occurred. so this indicates the fact it was traumatic injuries and the thermal effects that for some brief period of time, paul walker lived after that crash. roger rodas, the driver of the car, his death was attributed to multiple traumatic injuries. how the injury occurred, auto versus a fixed object. both deaths at this point ruled accidental. coroner saying he conducted t toxicology tests but those results will not be available for six to eight weeks. >> paul walker, the star of this incredibly successful franchise "fast & furious" it was almost wrapping this seventh sequel of the movie. will that continue, come out? will they shoot the whole thing? >> universal pictures releasing

a statement today answering that very question. and what they said is, at this time, we feel it is our responsibility to shut down production on "fast and furious 7" for a period of time so we can assess all options available to move forward with the franchise. we're committed to keeping "fast & furious" fans informed and we'll provide further information to them when we have it. until then, we know they join us in mourning the passing of our dear friend, paul walker. universal pictures also saying yesterday that they would donate a portion of the proceeds from the upcoming home version of "fast & furious 6" to paul walker's charity which is called reach out worldwide. >> that's lovely. casey wian, thank you very much. coming up next, a celebrity chef in court makes a shocking statement in court. admitting to using cocaine not once but twice, and she said there was a specific reason she

turned to derrugs each time. also, a man charged for stealing five cents worth of electricity. even spending time in jail. he said, hey, he was just powering up his electric car. police have a different story. >> and a video we have been watching. this 45 whales stranding off a coast in florida in shallow water. rescue effort under way to try to save the whales before it's too late. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] it started long ago. the joy of giving something everything you've got. it takes passion. and it's not letting up anytime soon. if you're eligible for medicare, you might know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan,

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and here just as we're talking about a school shooting, these are live pictures. winter garden, florida, as we can report to you we're hearing

that a student has been shot at west orange high school in winter garden. we can tell you that the shooter, apparently ran away from the school property, so there is an active search for the shooter. the victim, though, is alert and the good news at least, the silver lining, no students were around as this school had an early dismissal. so we're making phone calls and watching reports on that student shooting, west orange high school in winter garden, florida. details as we get them here on cnn. >> switching gears, we talked to our weather folks just a short time ago. they passed along this startling piece of news. minus 28 degrees. minus 28. you heard me right, at noon in west yellowstone, montana. skip two states down, you have 80 degrees in texas. minus 28 in montana. that is a gap of 108 degrees. have you ever heard of such a thing? anna cabrera is in boulder, colorado, on the more frigid

side of the freonflannel line. it looks nice. how cold is it? >> it's beautiful, but it's cold. but now after hearing negative 28 somewhere else, i'm feeling kind of lucky being in the single digit territory here in bolder. you may be able to see, the snow is falling. several inches piling up here in boulder, a community that was really hard-hit by the flooding just a few months ago, now one of the hardest hit metro areas with this latest storm. if you look behind me, we're on pearl street. normally you see a beautiful view of the foothills on the horizon, but this is as much as we have been able tosy from our location. we have been here since about 4:00 local time this morning. some areas in the mountains getting more than a foot of snow. good news for the skiers, but creating dangerous avalanche conditions and travel headaches. i-70 closed because of accidents. other parts of colorado on the southwest corner, wolf creek

pass also closed because of too hazardous driving conditions. the cold weather is really going to be the biggest issue as we look forward into the next few days with temperatures expected to remain in the high temps of single to teen degrees and dipping into negative degree territory over the next several nights. it's the dangerous cold temperatures that have residents here a little bit concerned. >> anybody that can't find a place to be indoors, that's obviously a real problem. so that's the first issue. but then on a more level, my pipes and my plumbing in my house. >> what were the road conditions like for you? >> slnow-covered and slippery. i spun out, not spin out, but i lost a little bit. there's ice, and it's slippery because this is real fine snow. and it -- it doesn't want to -- it's -- it's very persistent.

>> it's persistent. the folks here in colorado say, yes, this is a big storm. it snows in colorado, but not like this typically and not this cold for as long as it's expected to be cold, brooke. that's why we're out here in the thick of it. >> bundle up, stay warm. i suppose it's downright balmy compared to the minus 28 in monta montana. chad myers, explain how this is possible, this difference in temperature. if we're talking 80 degrees in dallas, isn't there a marathon there this weekend? >> it's not going to be anywhere near 80. in fact, the temperatures will drop 60 degrees in dallas over the next 48 hours. if you go west of where ana is, this is what i-70 looks like. farther to the west, it was a mess with a lot of that roadway closed because of accidents. the worst weather right now though is actually minnesota, into deluth, into green bay, picking up a rain-snow mix. here's the deal, the rub.

denver, 9. dallas, 78. all of a sudden, this air wants to go south. we get to 29 in oklahoma city. tomorrow, dallas, 41. so bam, and then these are the high temperatures for the day. so now we move you ahead to friday, and there's this line. west of d.c. all the way down to texas, that's the freezing line, and that's where the storm wants to develop. it's going to come out of colorado and run up the ohio valley with snow on one side, where it's 30. rain where it's 31 and 32, and then rain obviously where it's going to be 50, but it's the pink area, the freezing area right through little rock, eventually, jonsboro, into evansville and then cincinnati, that's where it's going to get deep with ice, sleet, and freezing rain. if sleet falls on the way down, it makes a sound when it hits. freezing rain freezes when it gets on the surface, freezes on the power lines, the trees, your house, your car. that's what we're seeing there on the rain-snow mix line. it's going to be a pretty bad

mix for a lot of people, brooke. chad myers, thank you very much for that. let's talk about what's happening in florida. this is near everglades national park. dozens of, these are pilot whales, stranded on this remote beach. as these are, some are trapped in nearby shallow water. florida wildlife officials and park rangers are desperately trying to rescue the whales. at least six of the beached whales have died. park rangers first spotted them tuesday afternoon. look at all them in the water there. wow. some of the surviving whales may have to be euthanized, but the big question today is this. why did this happen in the first place? here's john zarrella with some background on that. >> reporter: the biologists to this day don't know exactly what the cause is of these mass strandings. it could be viral. it could be environmental. there just is no real answer to it, whether it's whales or dolphins, whatever it is, but right now, an effort going on to try and save the whales that are in the water.

it is very, very shallow water over there. that's on the west coast of florida. in everglades national park, and it's really flat. so that water at low tide can be a foot deep if not less than that. that's the kind of water that those whales got stranded. >> we'll get an update from john zarrella who has been working that as far as why this happened and the rescue efforts to try to save the whales. 45 of them on the sand and in the water. that's next hour. coming up next here, retired nba star dennis rodman, oh, yes, headed back to see his pal in north korea. it will be rodman's third trip to the country find out what he will have while visiting there. >> plus, a stunning admission from celebrity chef nigella lawson. hear what she confessed to doing while in court today. we're on the case. stay with me. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health

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cortizone-10 has the strongest nonprescription itch medicine plus moisturizers to help heal skin fast. cortizone-10. feel the heal. apparently, dennis rodman just can't get enough of north korea. the retired nba star is heading back to the reclusive nation for the third time this year. and this time, we may get a peek into his stardom there because he is bringing an entire documentary crew along with him. he will help train the north korean basketball team before an exhibition team against former nba players slated for january. it's still not quite clear if he will meet with leader kim jong-un, his quote friend for life.

celebrity chefs fascinate us with a pinch of that, a dash of that, and had cult of these cooking personalities has only grown since the galluped gourmet jumped over a chair while holding a glass of wine in front of a live studio audience, and that brings us to nigella lawson and her potboiler of a personal life. she left british courts after dropping a bombshell. here she was leaving. she admitted on the stand she has used cocaine. she clarified, no, no, she's not an addict. >> brooke, british chef nigella lawson appeared in court today and responded to drug allegations. she said that she is not a drug addict, that she does not have a drug problem, but she says she thinks she has, quote, a life problem. she did abknowledge to using the drug cocaine on two separate

occasions in her life, the first when she was married to john diamond when they found out he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. they used the drug, she said, to escape from treatment. she said she didn't use the drug again until july 2010. she was married to her now former husband, charles sauchy. she said she was subject in the marriage to intimate isolation, feeling chained and unhappy, and a friend gave her the cocaine. she also acknowledged to using the drug marijuana but says she is currently drug free. she also testified how charles satchy threatened to, quote, destroy her, if she did not appear in court and clear his name. she says that she never expected to be at the center of this trial. after all, the defendants in this case are her two former assistants. the prosecution alleges that they used fraudulently satchy

and company credit cards to rack up over a million dollars in luxury goods, items to fund this luxurious lifestyle. charges that the two sisters deny, pointing to nigella lawson's habitual drug use and saying she knew about their expenses. wasn't until today that lawson had an opportunity to address the allegations in court. her testimony continues tomorrow. brooke. >> erin mclaughlin for us in london. thank you. the alleged los angeles airport gunman appeared before a judge. he is paul anthony ciancia, charges with a murder of a tsa officer. authorities say he pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and opened fire in what looked like a planned attack on airport security. one tsa officer was killed, three other people were wounded before police ultimately took down this gunman. this was ciancia's first court

date. he said yes when asked if he understands the charges, but he did not enter a plea. coming up here, more on the deadly train derailment in new york. the operator of the train may have been suffering from highway hypnosis. have you heard of this? we'll explain, next. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. i have obligations. cute tobligations, but obligations.g. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep.

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welcome back. i'm brooke baldwin. what was that train operator doing in the moments leading up to the deadly derailment in the bronx sunday? a union representative tells cnn that william rockefeller jr. had, quote, nodded off, but federal investigators are quick to say the rail workers union talked out of turn. yesterday, we reported on this show from these four -- two law enforcement sources that rockefeller told investigators he was quote/unquote in a daze, and he had no idea what happened. rockefeller also saying the brakes failed him. well, the ntsb has revealed the train was in fact speeding. seven cars jumping the tracks, killing four people. nic robertson is back on the story today. let's begin with the claims from the union rep. and the fallout, really, today from the comments. >> well, what the ntsb is saying, that he's broken the confidentiality agreement the

union entered into to be part of the organization. there are other groups assisting the ntsb. the ntsb said that by virtue of him, the union representative, disclosing details of what the train engineer has said and sort of placing an interpretation upon that, that's broken the confidentiality, and therefore, they're being now excluded from assisting as the investigation goes forward, brooke. >> what about the news today of this passenger lawsuit, that the first injured passenger filing suit here? >> yeah, notice a claim by dr. denise williams. she'll be filing that lawsuit in 30 days, according to her lawyer. she was severely injured in the train wreck. broken spine in several places. pinned down in the train by thousands of pounds of pressure from the overturned train, from the wood and debris that was accumulated there. her ribs and her upper rib cage

fractured, fractured shoulder as well. she was in a lot of pain there, and this claim will go against the mta for negligence. because she says the claim will say that the railroad authorities should have instituted this positive track control, this computer system that would have mitigated against human error if human error is ruled here, that if there was a mistake by the train engineer, then this system would have prevented the accident happening. and also, this claim will go against the mta, saying they have done little to upgrade their train tracks since a couple of incidents in the past few years. so this is the first one that we're hearing here, brooke. >> first of what could be several. we will wait to find out. nic robertson at the scene of the derailment in the bronx. thank you. coming up, arrested, for of all things, stealing electricity. you heard me right. this man was thrown in jail for stealing 5 cents of electricity

to charge his electric car. what? can he really be arrested for that? we're on the case. >> but first, do you dream of traveling through space but cannot afford a ticket? well, this could be your next best thing. a space training center is taking would-be astronauts on the ride of their lives in this technovations. >> tourists could blast off into space as early as next year on virgin galactic's space ship 2. until then, future astronauts can train for the rigors of space on earth. >> it's the real deal. we're training them just as we would a military pilot, a fighter pilot, or an ostnot. >> more than 300 people have taken the two -day training course in pennsylvania. the program centers around a state of the art simulator, a human centrifuge that replicates what space travel feels like. >> sequence starts in three, two, one.

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now to a petty crime that will make you wonder who is being petty. is it the police or this accused perp. here's the story, from georgia, an atlanta suburb. officers there charged this father with theft after he charged his electric car at an outlet at his son's school last month. he's cabbie communa, and he told our affiliate wxia his car, this nissan leaf, had been plugged in for about 20 minutes, which is worth about 5 cents in power. an electricity expert confirmed

to cnn that price is indeed accurate. now, he spent 15 hours in jail before being released over this. >> he broke the law. he stole something that wasn't his, yes. >> even if it was a small amount of electricity, it's justified. >> a theft is a theft, yes. >> you would do it again? >> absolutely. >> did you ask for permission to plug into the school? >> when i first got there, there was nobody there. it was a saturday morning. no. >> he said there are many cases in which police do not charge when there's no consent, like someone taking a drink from a water fountain, for example. cnn has made calls to shamply police. we're still waiting a comment from them. it has been more than two and a half years now since japan's fucasheemy daiichi nuclear reactor was badly damaged by the tsunami, and

clean up is expected to take as long as foirt years, that's 4-0. we were granted rare access inside this plant. this is the closest a journalist has ever been allowed to see the recovery work. >> we are here inside reactor four at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant that was crippled in the tsunami in 2011 leading to the country's worst nuclear disaster. it was in here there was that massive hydrogen explosion that damaged the building. this was the least damaged of the four reactors because it was under maintenance and it wasn't actually operating. now, two and a half years later, they say it has reached a milestone. that massive crane behind me is successfully moving 1500 fuel rods in the cooling pool to a storage pool next door. it's a slow and delicate process that will take about a year, but once finished, it will mean this

reactor can be discomumissioned. attention will turn then to reactors one, two, and three that suffered far more dangerous. levels of radiation are dangerously high. workers have begun removing debris, but the cleanup insid the reactors is a long way off. officials here say the entire plant won't be decommissioned for at least 40 years. as for the future of nuclear power in japan, no one really kn knows. more than 50 reactors have been shut down with the public very concerned about their health and safety, but japanese prime minister is pushing to reopen them, believing japan can have a safe nuclear future. cnn, fukushima, japan. anna, thank you, with that exclusive access there. closing the wealth gap between the richest and poorest americans. president obama focused on that near minutes ago. you'll hear his message on

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a source tell s cnn's jim acosta, that the number of americans enrolling for obama care this week alone is higher than the number for all of the months of october when the health care website went online with all kinds of problems. the source credits the website's improved performance for the enrollment of 29,000 new customers. november numbers are due out soon. as you know, people are signing up through state exchanges as well. with a signature program finally grinding forward, the president signaled today he is going back on the offensive. the aforementioned jim acosta has that story for us now today. what did he say? >> reporter: that's right, brooke. i think you can describe today

as, if yesterday was the obama care rebranding effort getting launched, today might have been an obama branding -- rebranding effort getting launched because the president went back to his base, was trying to rib up his base with two events in washington, one at the event center for american progress, a liberal think tank in washington, talking about the economy, issues bi s like incom disparity, called for a hike in minimum wage, extending unemployment benefits, but he wrapped up an event at the white house with younger americans, a youth summit here at the white house that goes to the issues that the white house believes younger americans care about. first and foremost on the president's mind, was the affordable care act, they desperately want younger americans to sign up. you mentioned the enrollment numbers. 29,000 in the first couple days of this month, exceeding all of what was picked up in october, and about a third, by the way, of what the administration says will be reported for november. and the president very interestingly at one point, brooke, talked about the term

obama care. people in washington have been saying the president hasn't been using the word obama care as much lately. what's the deal with that? the president used it during this address to younger folk s here at the white house. here's what the president had to say. >> i know people call this law obama care. and that's okay. because i do care. and i do. i care about you. i care about families. i care about americans. but no matter how much i care, the truth is that for your friends and your family, the most important source of information is not going to be me. it's going to be you. they are going to trust you. >> so a little bit of the president picking himself up, dusting himself off from that disast rr rollout of healthcare.gov. no briefing here at the white house today, but on a conference call with reporters, officials

with the administration, they were talking about how they also believe that enrollment is picking up, brooke. that is really the best news that this white house can be hoping for right now, for all of this work, and remember, a lot of people were receiving the kanlsilation letters. for all of this to work by january 1st, they need the enrollmentn numbers to accelerae quickly. they're starting to get a glimpse of that. in a week or so from now, we'll get a better sense as to the official numbers for november. no doubt about it, you can hear some of the president basically saying today, yes, this is basically job one at the white house right now. >> finally getting some of the tangible numbers. i know you and so many of your colleagues have been asking for. jim acosta, we'll wait for more, thank you, from the white house. news just in to us here at cnn, in the world of television, we're reporting on a shake-up today at cable channel msnbc. our senior media correspondent brian stelter is live with me

with more, and brian, we're talking about martin bashir. what is his feat? >> he has resigned from msnbc. this is several weeks after he had made comments about sarah palin that many people thought were outright disgusting, that were indefensible. in fact, i can't repeat them on the air. even though he was clever in the way he said it, he was talking about inappropriate behavior about sarah palin. he went away on vacation for a while. he said he took the thanksgiving holiday off, came back, met with the president of msnbc and decided he it to tender his resignation. i'm sure he was under pressure to do so, however, because his comments had become such a distraction, not just for him, but all of msnbc. >> quickly, a reminder, we were talking just this week about alec baldwin first, and now martin bashir. >> that's right. once alec baldwin quit for very different reasons from his show on msnbc last week, people wondered is martin bashir going to leave as well. well, he is.

msnbc put out a kind statement, suggesting he wasn't forced out, although it was very uncomfortable there for several weeks because of his remarks. >> brian, thank you very much. a quick reminder, make sure to tune in and watch brian debuting as host of cnn's "reliable sources" here on sunday. >> coming up in mere minutes, this truck filled with a dangerous radioactive substance is stolen in mexico. and now the u.s. and the international atomic energy agency are concerned about quote/unquote dirty bombs. we'll get a live report on that potential threat coming up. is i, a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation -- an irregular heartbeat, not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto®, jim's on the move. jim's doctor recommended xarelto®.

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we talked about this not too long ago. oxford dictionary had its say on what its 2013 word of the year was. they chose selfie. now merriam-webster chose its word of the year. it is science. science? yeah, about that. the folks at merriam-webster said science had the biggest increase in number of lookups in the online dictionary. a 176% increase, to be precise. the dictionary editors say a wide variety of discussions center on science this year. and speaking of science, my fellow space nerds, nasa has some big plans for plants on the moon. the space organization is teaming up with google to send flower seedlings to space. in an attempt to see if vegetation can survive on the moon. all in an effort to answer the ultimate question, can humans live and work on the moon? scientists say if they can successfully grow a garden, that might mean that humans could one day have a habitat on the moon.

here we go, hour two. i'm brooke baldwin live here in new york. we begin with the 911 calls. they have been released from the newtown school shootings. they took the lives of 20 children and 6 adults just about one year ago. deborah feyerick has just listened to the tapes. if you can, describe to me what you heard. >> one of the reasons the tapes were released, to see exactly how police responded when the 911 calls came in. you hear a dispotcher very calm. he quickly notified a supervisor, a sergeant there. he orders an all-hands response so police go immediately to the school. he notifies the connecticut state police, has a colleague do that, and then he determines that the school is in lockdown. so immediately, they understood the seriousness of this situation. and it appears that they were responding as quickly as they could within this flood of 911 calls that were coming in.

it wasn't just from inside the school, brooke, but it was also from people who were being texted by those inside, saying that there was a gunman in the hallways. you hear how this all plays out. a female teacher called in. she had been shot in the foot. you could hear a little bit of the fear in her voice. she can't get to the door. there are two other adults with children sheltering in place, the dispatcher says, can you lock the door? she says, i can't, i can't. you hear some of the fear and some of what was going on within the school within the ten minutes the gunman was inside. >> what about specifically this call, deborah, from the janitor who has since been hailed a hero? describe that call for me. >> it's face natting to listen to because this custodian, rick thorn, really became the eyes and ears for the dispatcher. he was able to say when the gunshots were going off, he was able to say when there was silence within the school as well. he was in a different part of the school, not at the front

entrance where the gunman broke in. but he was in a different part of the school, and at one point, he is actually confronted by responding officers, and you hear him with urgency in his voice saying, custodian, custodian, and he acts as -- he's relaying messages between the dispatcher and the newtown police. the newtown police say, have the dispatcher call connecticut state police, at which point the custodian says, yes, the dispatcher is telling me they have already been called. you can see how this was playing out in real time, that this custodian really able to help the police. at one point, they were going to let him go to help the responder officers and then it dispatcher kept him on the phone so he could have a sense of what was going on. so a lot of urgency. as these officers made their way through the building, and as people in the school were calling to make sure that everybody knew that they desperately needed help, brooke. >> the calm, the professionalism from all those 911 operator

said, invaluable in a situation as horrendous as that. deborah feyerick, thank you very much. i want to continue my conversation, bring in my two guests. we have clinical psychologist jeff gardere, and steve kardian. the takeaway, the calm. these folks did their jobs. >> they did, brooke. i want to put together two words you just said, a professional calm. by the officers maintaining that demeanor, they're able to keep as possible -- as much as possible the people on the other line calm, extract information, who's injured, what do we need? this is all done at hyperspeed, so they had to get the connecticut state police, get mutual aide there, ascertain, are there injuries. >> quick, quick. >> very quick, very professional, and well done. >> on a day like today, and again, not only is this happening today, but then you have the one-year anniversary happening two saturday from now. jeff gardere, talk about the emotional toll, i don't know if it's reinjuring would be the correct way to say it, for the

families, for the community. >> we know the community, the families, the survivors, all of us really, but specifically, those people are still experiencing their ptsd, post traumatic stress disorder, and they need to continue to heal. this is going to take a long, long time. there's never going to be a normal again. now there needs to be a new normal. part of what has been released today, part of what we know, i think gives us some comfort to know that the previous shootings, we've learned from them. we're going to learn from this shooting, and hopefully, we can minimize the shootings in the future, but i would say to those families, survivors, victims, and so on, continue to talk about this. continue to get treatment. continue to have an informal support group to discuss what that day was like. it's the catharsis of getting it out there that makes you healthier. >> dr. jeff gardere and steve kardian, thank you both very much. united states officials are working with mexico to try to

locate this truck, a stolen truck with a radioactive payload. justice reporter evan perez is on the story for us from washington. how did they find out about this? >> well, brooke, the radioactive payload you're talking about is cobalt 60. and it's inside a device that's used in hospitals to treat brain cancer and other types of diseases. what happened is in mexico apparently on sunday, a truck that was carrying a device that was essentially being discarded from a hospital was stolen at a gas station in central mexico. the mexican authorities have alerted u.s. authorities as well as international authorities that deal with radioactive materials to try to make sure that this doesn't get out of the country, this doesn't pose a danger elsewhere. at this point, what they're looking at is they believe that perhaps these thieves didn't know what they were getting into. there was other material inside this truck, there was some scrap, other things that were being thrown away. perhaps the truck itself was the

target. and from a standpoint of public safety, it's just obviously not something you want just running around out there in the public. there is obviously a big danger here. and a concern, especially for u.s. authorities, to try to make sure it doesn't get across the border. as you know, since 9/11 in the u.s., there's been a lot of concern about the possibility of a dirty bomb or somebody using radioactive material to try to do some big dirty bomb inside the united states. now, the u.s. department of homeland security has these devices all across the border, at border crossings to try to make sure that border officers can detect the stuff if it tries to come across in a truck. they say they're on alert for that. they don't believe that's the case, again, at this point, more of a public safety danger rather than a concern about dirty bombs. >> evan perez in washington. evan, thank you very much. coming up, was it highway

hypnosis or did this train operator simply nod off? conflicting information about what exactly happened to the driver of that train that derailed early sunday morning in the bronx, killing four people, injuring at least 67 others. what could happen to that driver. i'm talking legal ramifications here. later today, four students at university of california santa barbara have been diagnosed with the virus that causes meningitis. one of those students even had to have his feet amputated. we'll tell you what the university is doing about it when it comes to the rest of the community there. and this pictures today. look at this whales. 45 pilot whales stranded in the shallow waters. you can see some of them beached there. this is the florida everglades. the race is on to guide these whales back into the open ocean. we're live in florida, next. no matter how busy your morning you can always do something better for yourself.

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it is not every day that you see dozens of whales stranded on this remote beach, but look at these pictures here. 45 of these whales right now near everglades national park in florida, wildlife officials are desperately trying to rescue those traps in nearby shallow water. you saw those that are washed up on the sand. these are pilot whales, typically smaller whales. at least six of the beached whales have died, and the surviving ones, we're being told, may have to be euthanized. cnn's john zarrella is in florida, he's en route to these whales. he's on a boat as i speak. as soon as we can make the

connection with john zurilla and he can paint a picture in person, we'll get to him. >> let me move on to alastaire dove. he's the director of research and conservation at the georgia aquarium. nice have have you on, though i hate the circumstances. these pictures are awful to look at. can you explain to all of us, how does this happen that you have 45 whales stranded? >> it's a bit of an enigma. we don't know to this day while whales beach. there's some thought maybe it's to do with their social structure. they have a prominent male lead in the social structure. the thought is if that animal gets sick and beaches itself, all of the animals are forced by their social structure to follow the animal on the beach, which is really unfortunate. the truth is we really don't know a lot of the time. >> if you're down there, walk me through what's happening right now to get the whales who are rescuable out of there and into deeper waters. >> a big part of the challenge

is that these animals have beached themselves in a really remote area. just getting to them is a significant challenge. the fish and wildlife officials who have gotten there and officials who are helping will have tried to help the animals back into the water that are beached but still alive. but unfortunately, the prognosis is not good, and a lot of the animals will continue to beach themselves over and over. >> hang on, you said pushed. we're not talking physically, the rescuers are in the water shoving the whales. how do they literally get them out of there? >> it wouldn't be a case of shoving. a lot of it, you're going to rely on the tide. you wait for the tide to come back in and provide buoyancy to get the animal off the bank and back into the water. there is a certain amount of manual effort. you literally have to push the animals back into the water. we don't encourage people to do that. the best thing to do is call a competent wildlife official and they'll come and assess the situation and help. but volunteers do help get the

animals back in the water. >> at what point do they make the call to euthanize them, and why? to put them out of pain? >> usually, there will be a veterinarian supervising the activities. at some point, if they determine the animals are a lost cause, they continue to bring themselves back up on the beach or if they become injured or dehydrated or showing signs of exhaustion or no good option for rehabilitating the animal in a facility anywhere, they'll be forced with the decision of unfortunately having to euthanize them. >> of your knowledge of the whiles, we're talking 45 are stranded. what is your best guess as to how many can be saved. >> i really couldn't tell you. a lot has to do with the remoteness, which is going to hamper things in this situation, but i bet you the wildlife officials are working as fast as they can and as hard as they can to rescue them. this is probably a whole pod that is stranded at once, and that makes it more difficult. >> we have john zarrella on a boat. as soon as we can make contact with john and he can paint a

picture, hopefully there are folks there beginning the rescue process as soon as possible. >> coming up, we'll take you to california. four students at ucsb santa barbara diagnosed with the virus that causes meningitis. one of the students even had to have his feet amputated. what the university is doing about this crisis. that is next. and ahead, the engineer at the controls during the deadly train derailment here in new york suffered from quote/unquote highway hypnosis. at least, this is according to his lawyer. a union representative says he nodded off. we will talk about this engineer's legal ramifications, his future here. stay with me on the case. [ female announcer ] thanks for financing my first car. thanks for giving me your smile. thanks for inspiring me. thanks for showing me my potential. for teaching me not to take life so seriously. thanks for loving me and being my best friend. don't forget to thank those who helped you take charge of your future

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a massachusetts judge arraigned a 14-year-old boy accused of murdering his high school math teacher. >> guilty on not guilty? >> not guilty. >> not guilty. >> here he is. this is philip chisom. you heard him say not guilty, pleading not guilty to an adult charge of killing 24-year-old colleen ritzer. he also pleaded not guilty to aggravated rape and robbery, charges he faces as a minor, 14 years young. the judge will determine later if he will upgrade those offenses to adult court. on october 22nd, he followed his teacher into a bathroom at danvers high school, murdering her with a box cutter. >> now to a frightening meningitis outbreak. two colleges on opposite sides of this country on alert today. eight cases now of meningitis

report eed at princeton nearly o weeks ago, and four cases of the virus that can cause the virus on california santa barbara. >> in just a short while, about 700 students will walk into a university center where nurses will give them a powerful antibiotic pill aimed at boosting their immune system against meningitis. the university also taking another step, telling sororities and fraternities not to sponsor any parties where students might swap utensils or cups at this time. >> these are some particular grief organizations on campus that we discovered the students all had some link to. and so out of an abundance of precaution, and because we have a fourth case, we have taken the step to recommend that some of the social activities be curtailed. >> it's scary considering how much we all share containers.

how much we're all in such a close proximity with each other, that this virus could be carried and transferred really easily in this environment. so everybody has to be on high alert to be careful about it. but it's definitely concerning. >> as for the 700 students who will take that powerful antibiotic, their name was gleaned from a list of students who might have had close personal contact with the four meningitis patients here at uc santa barbara. as for the patients, we understand two have recovered and are back oin campus. one is still recovering off campus, and that fourth patient is still in the hospital in san diego. he's the student who unfortunately had to have his feet amputated. back to you now, brooke. paul vercammen for us in santa barbara. thank you. in new york, was it high way hypnos hypnosis, or did he nod off? conflicting information about what happened to the drafrb of the train that derailed early sunday morn, killing four people. what could happen to him?

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shooting at newtown sandy hook elementary school are now public. cnn has listened to them and here is what we have learned. the dispatchers were incredibly calm. a hero custodian gave the operators crucial information to help police. we heard one teacher trapped in a classroom with the students being told to lock to door. the release of these tapes, though, has been a huge debate. many newtown families have strongly opposed the release of these 911 calls. let me bring in two voices here. brian stelter in washington, and senior legal analyst jeff toobin here with me in new york. a number of folks have heard these tapes now. they're out. in your opinion, what is the news value of these 911 calls? >> when there is a mass shooting like the one that happened last year and you can hear how the first responders were informed about the shooting, and you can hear what was happening inside

the school, there is some inherent news value to that. but networks and news organizations are making very different decisions about what to play and not to play. for example, you can hear gunshots in some of the audio recordings. some networks may broadcast that, others will definitely not broadcast the gunshots. >> jeff toobin, you have heard the tapes. >> i have. >> what was your take away. >> i was so impressed by the 911 operators. that was my primary takeaway. calm, professionalism. also, what makes them horrible is what we know happened. what we now know. the tapes themselves are not terribly dramatic. you can't hear children. most of the callers are also pretty calm. certainly, the janitor does a tremendous job in describing what is going on. but it's what they mean, not how they sound. which is so disturbing. >> journalists argue, and with the freedom of information act,

wanted this public release of the tapes. prosecutors have said please don't release them. this could hurt the investigation. you're a legal mind. what do you think? >> well, the jeconnecticut judg who did release them, i think had it right. there really is no choice. there's a law in connecticut that says 911 tapes have to be released at some point. that's basically the beginning and end of the story. i also think a public service is served by releasing these tapes. there are various conspiracy theories that have floated around this case. anything that can dispel that, which can inform people about the truth of what really happened, and also, this is a major event in american history. >> major. >> the congress almost voted gun control. >> right. >> because of this. i think that means it's something that the public needs to know about. there is nothing inflammatory, no voices of children on the tapes. it's not a gruesome in any way. i thought the connecticut courts did the right thing. >> brian stelter, you know this. i know this. there are 911 tapes released, it

happens all the time. but this, i think, to jeff toobin's point, this is like none other. you have these 20 first graders. this seems different. >> well, i personally have not listened to the tapes yet. i don't think i want to. i don't think i want to hear the entire tapes. but for example, cbc news tonight will play portions of the tapes. cnn later today will play portions of the tapes. by exercising that type of caution, hopefully it will be somewhat comfortable, and at least not extrucruciating to he what was happening. to jeffrey's point, you're not hearing the voices of children, thank god, in the tapes. abc has said they're not going to broadcast any audio at all. you can see how there are different decisions being made by different outlets about how to handle this. >> i think we will later on tonight, give in context and then move on. >> remember, this is the age of the internet. they're all out there for anyone

who wants to listen to them. >> you're absolutely right. jeffrey and brian, thank you both very much. let me move on and tell you about this man imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. back in 1987, michael morton was convicted for the brutal killing of his wife. he went on to spent 25 years behind bars, cut off from the world, losing contact with his only son. then flash forward, dna evidence proved what morton claimed all along, that he was innocent. new day's chris cuomo sat down with morton ahead of the cnn airing of his story, "an unreal dream." >> i'm probably the personification of that old axiom you remember from school, you can't prove a negative. how do you prove you didn't do something? >> how rough was it inside? >> i never liked it. but i got used to it. >> how long did it take you? >> probably 14 or 15 years.

>> 14 or 15 years? >> to get where i was used to it. >> the first years the hardest? >> the first years are hard. just because it's a shock and it's new. and it's constant adjustment. constant recalibration. >> what did you son mean to you? >> as i began losing pieces of myself, my reputation, my assets, most of my friends, as those things diminished, my son's importance rose just, if nothing else, supply and demand. >> how were those visits? >> to me, it was just -- i'm a starving man looking at some food on the other side, and i'm just eating it up and it's great and wonderful. i have since found out he's looking at me as this guy that really doesn't exist in his life. somebody he just sees once in a while. >> as he started to grow up and

wanted distance, how did you deal with that and what ultimately did it lead to? >> he suspended visits. and eventually, when i found out he had changed his name legally and been adopted, a few things are as powerful to a parent as the abject rejection of their child. >> you say, i always thought that i would get out. what fueled the hope? >> it's difficult for me to say whether it was just faith that i knew i was right and i wasn't guilty that this would work out. or just that i didn't know how deep i was in. >> i met michael morton this morning. this is a stunning story, called an unreal dream, airs tomorrow might 19:00 eastern and pacific right here on cnn. pluz tune in to watch. "fast & furious" start paul walker. his autopsy results were

released as production on the new movie "fast & furious 7" is now shut down. what authorities say caused his death. [ male announcer ] this is george.

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now to that autopsy report revealing how actor paul walker and his friend roger rodas died in that car crash saturday.

rodas was driving the porsche carrera gt. walker, star of the movie series "fast & furious" was in the passenger seat. the porsche slammed into a light pole in valencia, california, before bursting into flames. casey wian with the new details today from the autopsy report. casey, what have you learned? >> well, brooke, the report released by the coroner today contained very limited amounts of information. but that information, very, very revealing. he revealed that paul walker died of the combined effects of traumatic and thermal injuries. why is that important? the thermal injuries means that the explosion, the fire that occurred as we now know from the video obtained by cnn, surveillance video of the area, that fire didn't aoccur until a full minute after the initial crash. that means in some capacity, paul walker was still alive for several moment after the initial impact. the driver of the car, roger

rodas, according to the coroner, he died of multiple traumatic injuries. the coroner ruling this of course was an sdeaccident thoug toxicology tests have been culted, that information will not be available, will not be released for another six to eight weeks, brooke. >> what about, casey, this extremely successful "fast & furious" franchise. "fast & furious 7" was weeks from wrrapping. will they go on? >> they decided to pull the plug on production at least for the time being. in a statement, they said at this time, we feel it's our responsibility to shut down production on "fast and furious 7" for a period of time so we can assess all options available to move forward with the franchise. we're committed to keeping "fast & furious" fans informed and we'll provide further information to them when we have it. until then, we know they join us in mourning the passing of our

dear friend, paul walker. we should also point out that universal pictures announcing yesterday they would donate a portion of the proceeds from "fast & furious 6" released in the home version in the next several days to paul walker's favorite charity, reach out worldwide, brooke. >> casey wian, thank you. let's talk a little more about this car. much has been said about this. this is like this limited edition 2005 porsche carrera gt that crashes. now, it's not a race car, but it's pretty close. kyung lah went out for a test drive. >> riding in a porsche carrera gt is simp ly visceral. >> so low to the ground. i'm at once exhilarated and car sick. it's like flying on the road, and it is terrifying.

but strangely, fun. so we're going out for a bit of a joy ride. i'm the lucky passenger in michael's porsche. he's an attorney by day, amateur drive by night. one of the few owners of the nearly 1,300 2005 carrera gts ever made. >> it's 0 to 100. that's more impressive, which is under seven seconds. the steering on this car is so tight and responsive. there's almost nothing like it in terms of road feel. >> top speed, 208 miles per hour. his super car has been souped up from 612 horse power to 660. is it easy to do something stupid? >> you know, it is because it's just having so much power under your foot that, you know, things can happen. there can be a loss of control. >> he doesn't know what happened

in actor paul walker's car crash, but being the owner of the exact same vehicle, he guesses it might be this. a cold car, cold tires, not race track conditions. was it a super car simply pushed too hard on a city road that it was never designed for? >> whoever was driving went beyond the capability of the adhesion of the tire. >> when you mean adhesion, what do you mean? >> the tire is not connected to the road. >> in some respects, are you afraid of this car? >> yeah, you really have to be with this car, with all the power it has. you have to be reserved and restrain yourself. it's like kind of taming a wild animal. and so if you're taming a wild animal, you would be afraid of it. you have to be afraid of it to really be safe in the car. >> a thin line between the thrill and real danger. kyung lah, cnn, los angeles.

coming up, we have to talk about this winter weather slamming parts of the u.s. in a major, major way. some parts of texas expected to have temperatures plummet, as in 60 degrees cooler than what you're experiencing right now. we'll tell you what to watch out for coming up next. [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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a female passenger on sunday's derailed train in new york has now filed a claim against the rail operator, metro north. according to this woman's attorney, her client suffered a fractured spine, a brockel collar bone, and several broken

ribs. this claims as they're raising new questions that quote/unquote highway hypnosis may have played in sunday's derailment. now, an official said the engineer was nodding off and caught himself too late to hit the brakes and slow down the train. those comments could be key to explaining what exactly happened this weekend. with me now, faith jenkins, criminal lawyer and former federal prosecutor, and also hln legal analyst joey jackson. good to see both of you. before we get to this engineer, this conductor, because i want to go there, first, now that we have the first official claim from a rider, what rights do riders have in instances like this? >> sure, well, what happens is, listen, this is the first one, brooke. you know there will be multiple more. you have to feel for someone. you get on a train at 5:54 in poughkeepsie. you think you'll be in the city safely and soundly, and then you're dead. what can you do? the realities are, you think generally when you think about

passengers rights, you want to be respected by the conductor. you want people to behave in ways that are comforting when you're on the train. you would think the train would be timely. but this transcends this. you want a conductor who would operate with a standard of care, and i don't want to prejudge. the facts will be as they may in the investigation, but you want someone who operates tons of machinery with a standard of care that insures you arrive safely at your destination. >> that duty here, to me, was clearly breached. not just prejudging, but he was going 82 miles an hour. >> it should have been 30. >> when it should have been 30. that in and of itself speaks to negligence. that duty at that moment was breached and look at the result. these people are injured and some even that you slost their . >> you brought up negligence. you have what you would prove as civil negligence or criminal negligence. we were talking in the break of the chinatown bus, where the driver fell asleep but wasn't

found criminally negligent. >> 15 passengers were killed and the trial went to case in the bronx. the jury found just because he fell asleep did not mean he was criminally negligent. they wanted more. why did he fall asleep? did he take some medication and knew he would be drowsy? did he stay up all night long and he knew there was a great possibility he would be sleepy? they said he just fell asleep. it was an accident. here, if this driver fell asleep or dozed off, they're going to figure the why behind it. was he on medication, did the change in the shift and the hours he worked have an impact on his ability to stay awake. >> is that pretty tough to prove, criminal negligence? >> it could be. ultimately, here's how you differentiate it. people are generally negligent every day. that's simply a failure to perceive a risk. your failure, but this is sort of a gross deviation. when you're talking about

criminal negligence. you're talking about such a gross deviation from the standard of care that a reasonable person would expect to have. if you're driving or operating a train with passengers and tons of equipment, at the least, you can stay aweake. then after that, you can drive around the speed limit. i think here the prosecution goes that far and it will be investigated, but the prosecution would certainly have a pretty substantial case along those lines that, you know what, we think you breached that duty in a criminal way. criminally negligent homicide, an e felony in new york, up to four years in jail if it goes that far. >> we'll be watching if it goes that far, joey jackson, faith jenkins, thank you very much. dick cheney is expressing disappointment at the highly public and highly personal discord ungumping his daughters. last month, mary cheney, you can see, that's mary cheney on the right, took to facebook to chide her sister liz for opposing

same-sex marriage in her race for a senate seat. recently married to her longtime female partner, mary cheney addressed liz directly, writing that her sister is, quote, just wrong, and quote, on the wrong side of history. dick cheney says it is a family matter and ought to be treated as such. >> we -- we're surprised and there was an attack launched against liz on facebook. and wished it hadn't happened. it's always been dealt with within the context of the family, and frankly, that's our preferences. >> despite his staunch conservatism, cheney supported same-sex marriage long before president obama did. cheney said he will not discuss his family feud again in public. he told reporters, and i'm quoting him, don't waste your time. >> we have been talking a lot about the winter storm that's about to crash into balmy texas

and certainly of its southerly neighbors. it's dropped several feet of snow on states like idaho and i. it is 56 degrees colder for the morning low in dallas on friday than it is right now. things are going to freeze up. cold air today, cold air

tomorrow. this is the battle ground tomorrow, you're going to take a look at this, it will be really important, brook. this side here, atlanta, warm, rain. this blue line is 30s. north of that is all snow. it's this ban right here that we're concerned with. you can drive through snow, but it's harder to drive through the amounts offize in oklahoma, arkansas, ohio. here is how it starts. right now not much going on, a couple rain showers. tomorrow, not much, tomorrow noon, snow in oklahoma city. it is pink, this all of the way from hugo, that is the ice, it moves right through into memphis and toward the northeast. the good news is by the time it gets cold enough to snow in new york there woint be any moisture

left. the big cities will be spared with this one. chad meyers, thank you very much. we're aig. and we're here. to help secure retirements and protect financial futures. to help communities recover and rebuild. for companies going from garage to global. on the ground, in the air, even into space. we repaid every dollar america lent us. and gave america back a profit. we're here to keep our promises. to help you realize a better tomorrow. from the families of aig, happy holidays. on the table by not choosing the right medicare d plan.

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president obama used his speech on the economy today to call for an increase in minimum wage.

he touted the manufacturing jobs that they are indeed coming back to the u.s. but he also warned more and more americans will be working in the traditionally low paying service try. >> airport, fast food workers, we're still living at our above poverty. that's why it is past time to raise it. >> allison goes into the life of a fast food worker. >> living on $7.25, you cannot do it. >> this is what minimum wage looks and sounds like. >> i would sacrifice my meal or my husband's meal to make sure

my kids can have what they need. >> they're fast food workers struggling every day. >> how can you live on $7.25. you could not even pay your apartment. if you have a family of maybe zero, you can support yourself, if you have a family, two kids, a wife, where are you living? under a bridge? it's not right. >> the pay for fast food workers is $9 an hour or $18,720 a year. >> workers are taking jobs because their desperate. and in an economy that's not creating enough middle class jobs -- >> eduardo lost his job a few years ago. now 58, two children, going to college, he works at kentucky fried chicken in new york. he moved his family to another

state and is trying to sell his house. >> for me, it's tough, real tough. i can't do none of the things that i used to do. i was able to pay more mortgage, take my family out to dinner. then we had to cut it out and sacrifice a lot of stuff. >> he will take to the streets in new york this thursday to take part in a strike that demands that the federal minimum wage be raised to $15 an hour. the protests have expanded since last november when two workers staged a strike at more than 20 restaurants in new york city. this past july and august there was strikes in states across the country. >> once the nation is hearing it, we have been striking all over the country, so people are getting an understanding. they're really seeing the light of what's going on. >> the try says it has created

jobs in this difficult economy. in response to the strikes, the national restaurant association said in a statement dramatic increases in a starting wage will challenge that job growth history, increase prices for restaurant meals especially in the value segments, and lead to fewer jobs created. >> when we talk about these fast food workers and possibly walking off of the job tomorrow, how many do we think will do it? >> it is expected that thousands might. they're making in roads in that i talked with some workers who participated in the past and they say when they're boss cut wind they were taking part in it, they were paid higher, they got more hours. >> it helped them. >> yes, they're seeing it is resonating. >> thank you very much.

just a quick reminder, pulling double duty. it's called in case you missed it. it is at 11:30 eastern. we're trying to showcase the best moments on cnn each and every day. let's go to washington with jake tapper, starts now. >> new insight into the horrors of new town. a fuller understanding of what happened inside sandy hook elementary. i'm jake tapper, this is "the lead." we have relied on eyewitness accounts of newtown. the courts decided it was in the public interest and the 911 calls from that terrible day have been released. from 8 degrees to 80. colorado and texas might